Alternative rock band Mann Friday have followed up the success of their first single, “Fight For Me”, with the release of their innately anthemic second single, “Caravan in the Mist”, a buoyantly confident song with a tender origin story, ahead of the imminent release of their sixth album, Bridgenorth Road.
At the end of 2020 Mann Friday’s vocalist and songwriter, Rob Burrell, met and fell in love with his now-fiancė after he bought an old school caravan and the two of them traversed the lush landscape of Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands.
Rob Burrell explains
“We had both been through a midlife crisis of sorts and met each other at a similar time in our lives. We ended up taking a risk on each other and disappearing in a caravan that I had bought and drifted around this mountainous region of Zim. Then one of the nights we parked and I connected up the fairy lights and I wrote the beginnings of this song, which is now our song.”
The artwork also speaks directly to the song’s title and features a picture of a caravan in the mist, the exact same caravan on the exact same evening that Rob connected those fairy lights, in the middle of nowhere in Africa, and wrote the foundations of the track.
When questioned about the song’s intention the Mann Friday answered as follows
“The message is geared towards the underdog. Never count out the underdog, there’s definitely still a lot of race left. Most people might not think that there’s a lot of race left, in your life, in your heart, but there most certainly is.”
Lyrically, diehard Mann Friday fans will recognise certain phrases as a sort of secret handshake to their core discography with references to “Diamond Eyes”, “Gin And Tonic Sky”, and “Sunburn and Wonder”, all staple songs in the two decades-long genealogy of the band.
Teaming up again with Obscura Productions and director Kalai Faye Barlow, the same team behind Mann Friday’s double award-winning music video for “Fight For Me”, the video for “Caravan in the Mist” is a live performance one at heart, supported by a cast of expressive dancers who bring the band’s lyrical vision to light.
Check out the video for “Caravan in the Mist” below:
Rob from Mann Friday comments on making the video
“I’ve never featured choreographed dancing in a Mann Friday video before and it was really exciting working with this dance troupe in Harare, headed up by professional choreographer duo, Michelle and Airbourne. It was amazing to pull off that level of video with a big cast that was short during the day and at night–and all of the synchronicity that comes with it,”
While Mann Friday’s first single was born out of pain, their latest single “Caravan in the Mist” is born out of hope and champions the story of paradise found – with fervent vigour.
Here’s my 2 cents on “Caravans in the Mist”
In a daily routine that consists of dealing with loadshedding, scrambling to get enough cash to get through the month and increasing stress levels that are elevated by uncertainty, “Caravans in the Mist” is just what the doctor ordered. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel that all of us need right now.
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